Designer Suneet Varma's book mirrors the growth of the Indian fashion industry as much as his own over the last 25 years

The celebrations marking designer Suneet Varma's 25 years in the fashion industry started last year with a series of events. He began with the showing of his Spring-Summer Couture 2012 collection, "The Eternal Lightness of Being — to Love, to Hold, to Kiss" and followed up with his Fall-Winter

Couture 2012 show that was held in November last year. The ace couturier is now toasting his label's silver jubilee celebrations with a book titled Suneet Varma (Niyogi Books) that encapsulates his illustrious journey in the world of fashion. Authored by Nishat Fatima, editor of Harper's Bazaar, the book will be formally launched on January 25 at the Embassy of France in New Delhi.

The decision to present his journey this far in the form of a book, admits the designer, was neither recent nor a quick one. "This book has been in the planning for over a decade," he says. A self-admitted voracious reader, Varma first decided to work on his book a decade ago with the late photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta. "We started to work on it together but somewhere down the line, I felt that my body of work wasn't ready to be published. I stopped half way even though Prabuddha insisted I finish my book. Finally, after 25 years in the business, I felt like I have something to say," quips Varma.

A photo-heavy book, it packs in more than 500 images shot by some of the country's leading fashion photographers like Prabuddha Dasgupta, Bharat Sikka, Farrokh Chothia and VibhashTiwari. "If Prabuddha had not directed me, I would have never done this book. So, it's to his credit. We first met in 1988 and started to do lots of shoots just for fun — sometimes in a jungle, on his terrace, in my house and in Goa. We shared a very special bond," says the designer.

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